406 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



writers, that "spring dwindling "is 

 "diarrlioea in disguise;" that no 

 apiary would ever suffer from it if 

 the colonies were well wintered. Our 

 opposition accredited it to disagree- 

 al)le spring weather, cold winds and 

 shady dells. Here they made the 

 same kind of a mistake that thev 

 have made regarding the true cause 

 of diarrhoea. Their supposed prime 

 cause are only helpers or secondary 

 causes. 



The present spring has been one of 

 the most trying as far as bad weather 

 being a cause of " dwindling ; but 

 throughout all the regions where bees 

 wintered well, no "dwindling" has 

 occurred. I have looked upon this 

 wintering-problem without prejudice, 

 and I have little reason to entertain 

 any. I am more fully persuaded that 

 the "pollen theory" is the correct 

 one. I will not take more space to 

 describe the various plans of packing 

 and ventilation used in this apiary 

 during the past winter, as none of 

 them, or the lack of them, prove to be 

 a cause or a prevention of diar- 

 rhoi-a. 



The other apiary was not mine till 

 last March. Years ago sugar was 

 found to be a much better" winter 

 food than honey. The reason why it 

 was such, was not understood. Had 

 it been clearly known, sugar, as a 

 winter food, would not have been dis- 

 carded ; because, in some cases where 

 it was fed. the bees died of diarrlin/a 

 by eating the bee-bread from llie 

 cells adjoining those containing the 

 syrup. 



Dowagiac, Mich.. June 9, 18S4. 



Read at the Maine State Convention. 



The Principles of Protection. 



L. F. ABBOTl'. 



Xo one need get fidgety ; it is not 

 based on the political bearing of tariff 

 protection, as the first thought miglit 

 naturally suggest. I am a believer in 

 protection, however, hi every sense of 

 the word, and especially where the 

 rights of the farmer or the farmer's 

 bees are concerned— the latter of 

 which more directly concerns us at 

 the present time. It is not my pur- 

 pose to discuss each point exhaust- 

 ively, but rather to introduce propo- 

 sitions which seem to me to be es- 

 tablished as facts, and leave the dis- 

 cussion of the various points to wiser, 

 if not older, heads. 



Proposition 1 :— The meaning of 

 ■• protection." Xot to be too critical, 

 we will declare it to be, guarding 

 against extremes of temperature both 

 ill winter and summer. Protection 

 may be afforded in various ways at 

 both seasons, Init all forms may not 

 be equally efficacious in accomplish- 

 ing the desired end. We may use 

 single-walled hives loosely " con- 

 structed, for our bees, then leave 

 them out-of-doors through the winter 

 months, placing a few evergreen 

 boughs or corn-stalks around the 

 hives, and call it "protection:" and 

 it would be, but 1 think not tlie best 

 kind. We can also use sucli hives as 

 I have named, and place the bees in a 



good cellar, and call that " protec- 

 tion :" and this I have often done 

 with good results ; but neither of 

 these ways. I am convinced, is the 

 right kind of protection for bees. 



Protection then, is something more 

 than guarding arainst cold ; it pro- 

 tects from cold, from humidity, from 

 sudden changes induced by atmos- 

 pheric influence, and also prevents 

 the production and retention of dele- 

 terious gases and other influences in- 

 cident to non-ventilation. 



Proposition 2 : — " Why is protection 

 necessary'?" Our bees are subject to 

 unnatural conditions in the frame 

 hive. To explain : Bees left to fol- 

 low their own course seldom fill the 

 hive with uniform straight combs. 

 This change has been brought about 

 by the skill of the apiarist. Bees in 

 a natural state never had wired foun- 

 dation, running from front to rear of 

 the hive, in beautiful and exact 

 sheets upon which these little insects 

 could continue the work so deftly be- 

 gun and left by the comb-foundation 

 machine. A hive without bars or 

 frames, occupied by bees, will, as a 

 rule, be filled with combs of many 

 forms, placed irregularly, some run- 

 ning at right angles with others, 

 forming nooks, corners and galleries 

 where the bees can find ample room 

 to cluster in during the winter, and 

 thus flnd protection from their mode 

 of filling the hives with combs, which 

 instinct leads them to adopt. On the 

 other hand, the higher intelligence of 

 man comes in and directs the work of 

 the bees that now produce perfectly 

 straight and true combs, subject to 

 cold drafts of air from the entrance 

 up through the narrowly spaced 

 frames, and out by the loose joints of 

 illy-constructed hives. Protection, 

 then, is needed to restore the equilib- 

 rium destroyed by this abnormal con- 

 dition to which our bees are subjected 

 by the advances, of what is esteemed, 

 apicultural science. 



Proposition 3 : — " Protection essen- 

 tial in both out-door and in-door win- 

 tering." It is certainly necessary to 

 protect from cold and sudden changes 

 of weather when bees are left out-of- 

 doors, and I liold it is no less the part 

 of wisdom to give nearly the same 

 protection when wintered within 

 doors. In either case, condensation 

 of moisture within the hive will take 

 place— out-of-doors to form fmst 

 within the hive, and in-doors to sat- 

 urate the unpainted walls and frames 

 of the hive and form in drops upon 

 the combs, causing dampness and 

 mold. The colder tlVe hive, the more 

 serious the trouble, in either case. 

 Protection, as with the chaff hive, 

 obviates both ditficulties to a certain 

 extent, both by preventing excessive 

 condensation, and again by allowing 

 the moisture to escape, and also by 

 absorption. An example : A colony 

 placed in the cellar, with enameled 

 cloth on the frames with absorbents 

 on top of that, in January were found 

 with moldy combs, the enameled 

 cloth on the side next the frames was 

 covered with drops of water over its 

 whole surface so it dripped when re- 

 moved, and but little indication of 

 absorption of moisture above the en- 



ameled cloth. Another colony placed 

 beside the former, with woolen cloth 

 placed upon frames and bran-sacks 

 above that, was found with the upper 

 story of the hive and the inside of 

 the cover,covered with drops of water, 

 with the packing-material damp, 

 while the quilt was di-y and warm. 

 The same state of things would exist 

 ill case of out-door wintering, with 

 the exception that frost would collect 

 unless more material was used to ab- 

 sorb the moisture. Protection, then, 

 is needed to preserve an even tempera- 

 ture and a normal condition of dry- 

 ness within the hive. 



Proposition 4: "Bees, to winter 

 safely out-of-doors,should be protected 

 as with the chaff hive, or on the plan 

 of Mr. Additon's shingle hive, or by 

 packing in some manner, if in single- 

 walled hives." If wintered in the 

 cellar, full protection is well ; but 

 protection above the bees by some 

 absorliing material, as chaff," finely- 

 cut straw, or cloth, is fully as essential 

 as in out-door wintering. ' 



Proposition 6 : — " Protection is the 

 normal condition of bees in the nat- 

 ural state." Bees left to seek their 

 own home, as a rule, seek a hollow 

 tree. There they are in a single- 

 walled hive, it is true, but not a thin- 

 walled hive. But the conditions for 

 disposing of the moisture arising from 

 the bees is generally admirable. The 

 hollow tree, made so by the decaying 

 of its substance, is still subject to the 

 same process of decay, while the bees 

 are snugly ensconced within its dry 

 and warm shelter. The first work of 

 the swarm after domiciled in their 

 new home, is to set up house-keeping 

 by thoroughly clearing their apart- 

 ment. This they commence to do at 

 the top. but there is always a portion 

 of the upper part of the cavity to 

 which the comljs are not attached > 

 and this for the reason that the de- 

 cayed wood is not easily removed, 

 and still deemed by the bees insecure 

 to fasten their conilis to. This par- 

 tially decayed portion above the 

 combs affords fine absorbing material 

 in winter, being as dry as powder in 

 the fall when going into winter quar- 

 ters, and in spring', wet with the con- 

 densed moisture absorbed during the 

 cold weather. Such being the nat- 

 ural conditions, our artificial devices 

 should be as adequate and as much 

 betiej -s possible; hence protection is 

 a necessity, to a certain extent, under 

 all circumstances, in supplying nat- 

 ural conditions. 



Proposition G :— " Protection is 

 needed in summer to guard against 

 excessive heat." There is no doubt 

 in my mind but that many tioies bees 

 refrain from entering the surplus 

 boxes, and cluster upon the outside of 

 the hive, solely from the effects of the 

 excessive heat within the upper por- 

 tion of the hiv'e. Tliis I saw demon- 

 strated last season, and have seen fre- 

 quent cases before. An empty space 

 above tlie section-case in the" upper 

 story of the hive, affords some relief : 

 but I think some non-conducting ma- 

 terial above the bees, immediately 

 above the sections when they are on. 

 or over the frames in spring and early 

 summer, quite essential. 



